A Valentine Surprise
by Bookaholic711
Summary: Post TLO: A certain day in the second month means nothing to Annabeth Chase, but the story of her day is an interesting one: both the excepted and the unexpected.


**AN: Happy Valentine's Day everyone! In honor of everybody's favorite Hallmark holiday, I've written a little story. It isn't quite a one-shot, but it's just this chapter about Annabeth's Valentine's Day from her point of view. Read and enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: Gods, I hope I don't look like Rick Riordan. I mean, no offense to him, but I don't think a 14 year old girl would WANT to look like Rick Riordan.

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I opened my eyes and stretched my arms. A beautiful yellow glow glinted through the window of my dorm room. Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes and looked around. The single room was just as I liked it. Everything was neatly in its place. Dadeleus's laptop sat in the middle of the desk, surrounded by neat piles of textbooks and papers. The small patch of floor that didn't contain furniture was clean, nothing on top of taupe carpeting. On the walls hung pictures of my favorite places. There was a neatly framed picture of the Hoover Dam, a poster of the Parthenon, and the finished blue prints for Olympus, which I'd been so proud of that I couldn't resist hanging. On my bedside table there was a little alarm clock, a lamp, and a picture. It was two kids sitting on a pier over a lake, their arms wrapped around shoulder and waist as they sat side by side. The boy on the right, with his dark hair and sea-green eyes, grinned like there was no tomorrow. The girl, with golden-haired curls and eyes a stormy grey, had on a peaceful expression as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

It was Percy and me on the lake pier at Camp Half-Blood. It was taken at the end of last summer, the two most perfect weeks right at the end of August. Sure, we had just finished fighting a war, and we'd lost more friends than I ever liked to think about, but those weeks I was truly happy for the first time in long time. We'd won. The gods were safe, I got to rebuild Olympus, and we didn't have to fight any more. But more than that, Percy was safe. He was safe, and he was mine. Officially mine.

I sat there looking at that picture for a long time. I hadn't seen Percy since Christmas. Although I'd stayed in the city so I could see him more often, among other reasons, we were both too busy to spend much time together. I missed him. I missed his smile, his laugh, the way his eyes glinted when he looked out at the ocean. I missed having his arms around me, the safe feeling I had whenever he was nearby, the feeling of having a friend who would do anything for you.

Finally, I tore my eyes from the picture and got up. I walked over to my day-by-day calendar that sat on my desk and ripped off yesterday. It was Sunday, February 14. I flicked the light switch and got dressed quickly. I pulled on a pair of dark-washed jeans, tied on my black converse. I grabbed a grey sweatshirt and my rain jacket. And, even though I wasn't supposed to, I pulled on my orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. I hadn't worn it since summer, and it still smelled like camp. The lake, and the woods, and the strawberries, and Percy. I smiled. I'd just have to keep my jacket zipped up all day.

I ran through the rain to the cafeteria, where I met a few friends. I didn't really have any close friends here, just a couple other people who, like me, were here to learn, and not just to party all day.

"So Annabeth," asked one girl, Hannah, as she dug into her pancakes, "you going to that dance thing tonight?"

Dance thing? I wasn't even going to ask. "No."

"Aww, that's too bad!" Janice said. "I would have thought, you know, with your boyfriend and all…"

Telling these girls about Percy had not been my best idea. They brought him up all the time, wanting to meet him. Well, too bad.

"Nope," I said, popping my lips on the _p_ and returning to my breakfast.

I spent the day doing homework in the library. The crowd there got thinner and thinner as the day went on. Girls left to go get ready for the dance, guys running out at the last minute to buy something to wear.

I ran out of homework around two. Everything was done, and hopefully done well, despite my dyslexia. Sighing, I sat down at a computer. I had nothing to do, so I played Minesweeper for a little while. I'd never played it before coming to this school, but now I played it all the time. It was just my kind of game, logical. Numbers, no words. It made sense.

After about an hour, I was sufficiently bored, so I headed back to my dorm. Maybe I'd study a little or look at some of Dadeleus's stuff. But waiting outside my room was a figure. I saw them when I was too far away to see who they were, but as I got closer, I recognized Sarah Fields. We weren't friends or anything, but we talked some times in class. Why in Zeus's name was she there?

"Hi, Sarah," I said. She nodded in response as I opened the door. "Come on in."

She went in and sat down at the desk.

"What's up?" I asked.

Sarah cracked a smile. "I've come to convince you."

"Convince me?"

"Yup. We voted, me and my friends, that you are going to the dance tonight."

I winced slightly at her grammar. "Oh, I am?"

"Yes, you are. We'll lend you a dress and everything. Be at my dorm at four, sharp." She got up and opened the door. "Oh, and Annabeth?"

"Yes?"

"You'd better be there."

Ugh. Fine. I'd go. I'd be miserable, but I'd go. What was my other option, sitting here feeling lonely? I was pretty sure all of my friends would be there. Maybe I could talk to them, or at the very least, escape to the library.

I worked on the Olympus plans for a while. At about quarter to four, I figured I valued my life, and so I walked down to Sarah's dorm.

There were about ten girls in there, and as soon as I opened the door, I was overrun with the smell of perfume. Blech.

"Annabeth!" Sarah yelled. "Now we don't have to drag you down here." She motioned to stool in front of her dresser. "Sit."

Her dresser was covered in dangerous weapons, otherwise known as massive amounts of makeup and hair products. For the next hour and half I was poked, prodded, cleaned, filed, painted, and shoved. Finally, when I was finished, I was allowed to look at myself. I stood shakily on the 2-inch heels that had been forced on to my feet and stood in front of the floor-length mirror on Sarah's door.

Oh. My. Gods. What had they done to me? My hair was normally curly, but now it was straight until the ends, where it curled perfectly to my bare shoulders. My eyes popped with the slight amount of mascara and light brown eye shadow on my face. My lips were rose pink. My nails were covered in clear polish, with white at the ends. I wore a light blue halter-top dress that reached my knees. The strappy, silvery heels completed the ensemble.

I looked beautiful. But I didn't feel like me. I felt like someone else in my body.

"Oh, Annabeth," one of Sarah's friends said, "you look gorgeous." I smiled slightly as they all hurried to agree.

"Thanks for doing this," I said. But it was in vain, of course. I'd spend the night standing in the corner.

They admired me a little longer, until I was starting to feel like a Barbie doll. Then we all went down to the gym, where this dance was being held.

The gym was decked out for the occasion. Red, white and pink streamers hung along the walls. The floor was neatly polished, and a disco ball hung from the ceiling of the otherwise dark room. At one end, a DJ had set up his table and was blasting music. Heart-shaped snacks and sandwiches were on a buffet table along with a huge punch fountain. Kids lined up for the food while other covered the dance floor. I sighed and made to retreat to the corner, but Sarah pulled me with her to the floor.

"Come on," she said, "Give dancing a try."

I rolled my eyes and copied what she did, swaying my hips to the music. I turned in a quick circle, looking for a friend to come rescue me. I didn't see any of them, but I caught a glimpse of a boy with black hair and sighed as I thought of Percy.

In vain, I struggled to have fun, but eventually, I feigned hunger and escaped to the food. As I walked, I swear I saw that same glimpse of black hair. And then almost passed out as the guy stood in front of me.

He was wearing a tux, his black hair lying nearly flat for once. His eyes sparkled happily. In his arms was a bouquet of red roses, which he presented to me with a smile as I got over the shock of him being there. Then he wrapped me in his arms, the same way I'd been thinking about this morning, pulling me close into him. He leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"Hey Annabeth," Percy said. "Happy Valentine's Day."


End file.
